II. RECOMMENDATIONS
To bring itself into compliance with domestic and international law,
the government of India must act immediately
to restore security, prevent further attacks, and end the environment
of impunity in Gujarat. Those responsible for
the attacks in Godhra and its violent aftermath must be prosecuted,
including police and state officials complicit
in the attacks. Specifically, Human Rights Watch makes the following
recommendations:
To the State Government
of Gujarat:
Improve security in violence-affected areas and relief camps by increasing
the number of police officers-including
officers from minority communities-and the number of outposts
where needed. Where necessary, army units should
continue to be deployed to keep the peace.
· Suspend all police
officers implicated in the attacks, pending investigation.
· The government
should act without delay to implement the recommendations of the NHRC on
the
violence
in Gujarat (see appendix), including that:
· The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) take over investigations
of certain critical incidents in
Gujarat, including the attacks in Godhra, Naroda Patia, and Gulmarg Society.6
· The chief justice of the High Court of Gujarat
establish courts expressly to try the cases investigated
by the CBI.
· The government set up police desks in temporary camps, to receive
and record complaints, and
forward them to police stations having jurisdiction.
· Turn over investigations
implicating state and police officials to external agencies such as the
CBI. Ensure
that these investigations address the conduct of state officials,
including police and Bharatiya Janata Party
leaders, who incited, took part in, or were complicit in the attacks.
The investigations should also focus on:
· Instances in which government documents noting the religious affiliation
of persons were given to
groups responsible for inciting violence or conducting abuses.
· Malfeasance in investigating and arresting leaders involved in
attacks.
· Excessive use of police force, including executions of Muslims.
· The arbitrary detention and filing of false charges against Muslims.
· Ensure that state
police register and investigate all cases of communal violence regardless
of the religious
background
of the victim. Police posts should be set up in relief camps expressly
for this purpose. The
national
government and government of Gujarat should establish civilian review boards
or civilian
ombudsman
committees composed of judges and lawyers to examine whether cases are
being adequately
investigated.
Police found to have violated their duties should be dismissed and prosecuted
where
appropriate.
· Collect and preserve
forensic evidence for use in the identification of the dead and to support
criminal
prosecutions.
· Members of the
media and media organizations responsible for the incitement of specific
acts of violence
should
be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
·
Take decisive steps to ensure that police use deadly force only as a last
resort to protect life. Police agents
should act in accordance with international standards on use of force.
The U.N. Basic Principles on the Use
of Force or Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials emphasize that the use
of force and firearms should be
in consonance with respect for human rights and that deadly force should
not be used against persons unless
"strictly unavoidable in order to protect life."
· Launch public awareness
campaigns in Gujarat and other states aimed at preventing future communal
violence.
This campaign
should reaffirm legal provisions, explain what recourses are available
to minorities, and publicize
the procedures
for filing a First Information Report (FIR). This campaign should also
include public service
announcements
aimed at educating the population through efforts to raise awareness of
minority rights and
condemnation
of religious violence and extremism.
· Implement state
and federal relief packages for victims of communal violence-including
disbursement of
compensation
for family members of victims killed in the violence, the reconstruction
of homes and places of
business, and
the provision of food rations and other relief supplies for all persons
displaced or dispossessed by
the communal
violence in a nondiscriminatory manner and in accordance with international
human rights law and
the U.N.
Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.
· Restore without
delay all documents necessary for the enjoyment and exercise of legal rights
that were lost or
destroyed in
the course of the communal violence. These include passports, personal
identification documents,
and birth,
marriage, and education certificates.
To the Government of India:
The government of India should ensure that the government of Gujarat
investigates and prosecutes perpetrators of
violence and where necessary, cooperates with external
agencies such as the CBI in doing so. The government
should also take appropriate measures to ensure the security and safety
of all citizens of Gujarat, including assistance
to those who have been displaced or dispossessed by the violence. In
addition, Human Rights Watch recommends that:
· Repeal
the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), which stands in violation of international
due process norms.
The Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO), that preceded POTA,
has been discriminatorily applied
against Muslims in the state of Gujarat and elsewhere.
· Establish state
branches of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the National Commission
for
Minorities (NCM),
and the National Commission for Women (NCW) in Gujarat, with adequate financial
resources and
powers to initiate prosecution where appropriate. The 1993 Protection of
Human Rights Act
should also
be amended so that the NHRC is not excluded from inquiring into matters
already pending
before state
commissions.
· Implement
recommendations on police reform made by the National Police Commission
in 1980.
·
End impunity for past campaigns of violence against minorities. That is,
prosecute and punish those found
responsible for serious offenses during the anti-Sikh violence in Delhi
in 1984 and the post-Ayodhya
violence of December 1992 and January 1993. The recommendations of
the Srikrishna Commission on the
post-Ayodhya violence in Bombay should be implemented without delay.
Police responsible for excessive
use of force should be prosecuted; those who having the power and
duty to stop the violence but did not
intervene should be punished accordingly.
· Request and encourage
United Nations relief agencies, including the United Nations Development
Programme
(UNDP), the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme
(WFP),
the World
Health Organization (WHO), and the United Nations Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian
Affairs
(OCHA), as well as international humanitarian organizations to provide
relief and rehabilitation
assistance
to all those displaced and dispossessed by the communal violence,
without discrimination.
· Provide U.N., international
humanitarian organizations, and local nongovernmental relief agencies full,
free,
and unimpeded
access to all those displaced and dispossessed by the communal violence.
·
United Nations human rights bodies and experts should be invited and encouraged
to visit India:
· The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
· The special rapporteur on torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatment.
· The special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary
executions.
· The special rapporteur on violence against women.
· The special rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial
discrimination, xenophobia and
related intolerance.
· The Special Representative of the United Nations secretary-general
on internally displaced persons.
· Include information on the recent communal violence in India's
future periodic reports to human rights
treaty bodies established for the:
· International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against
Women (submission due August 8, 2002)
· International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (overdue
as of December 31, 2001).
To India's Donors and Trading Partners:
· Urge the Indian
government to make an official request to U.N. relief agencies and international
humanitarian
organizations
to provide relief and rehabilitation assistance to those displaced and
dispossessed by th
communal violence,
and ensure that the U.N. and international relief agencies are allowed
full, free and
unimpeded access
to all those displaced and dispossessed by the communal violence.
· Provide funding
to the government of India to deliver relief and rehabilitation assistance
to those displaced
and dispossessed by
the communal violence and take steps to ensure that such assistance is
delivered in a
nondiscriminatory
manner and in accordance with international human rights law and the U.N.
Guiding Principles
on Internal
Displacement.
· Provide funding
for preventative measures to ensure that communal outbreaks are prevented
in the future. Such
measures can
include community education programs on communal issues and the establishment
of independent
review boards
to act as checks on the functioning of the police and other state and local
governmental institutions
during communal
outbreaks.
· Urge the Indian
government to prosecute those responsible for the violence in Gujarat,
including state
government
and police officials, and demand that the government invite relevant U.N.
human rights experts
and commissions
to monitor the ongoing situation.
· Urge the Indian
government to implement the recommendations of the NHRC concerning the
violence in
Gujarat; the
Srikrishna Commission on the 1992-1993 Bombay riots; and the 1980 recommendations
of the
National Police
Commission on national police reform.
To International Lending Institutions:
· Ensure that anti-discrimination
measures built into World Bank and Asian Development Bank-funded projects
are thoroughly
implemented in areas where the problems of communal violence and religious
discrimination are
severe.As
part of its commitment to good governance, the World Bank, as well as other
international lending
institutions,
should establish ongoing dialogue with NGOs at all stages of the decision-making
process-before
a loan
is released, while the project is being implemented, and in the course
of any post-project evaluation.
· Prior to approval
of projects, and in consultation with NGOs, investigate the effect of proposed
policies and
programs on
religious violence and discrimination, and explore ways in which programs
could help alleviate
these
ills.
· Assistance to state
authorities should be conditioned on concrete actions to assist internally
displaced
persons who
seek to return to their homes and ongoing provisions for monitoring programs
to this end.
To International Humanitarian Organizations:
· Explore with the
Indian government ways to expand existing relief programs to address the
humanitarian needs
of those displaced
and dispossessed by the communal violence in Gujarat, without discrimination
and in
accordance with
international human rights law and the U.N. Guiding Principles on Internal
Displacement.
Assistance should
focus on health and sanitation, food and nutrition, social and psychological
support, shelter,
and educational
needs of the internally displaced, as well as rehabilitation and reconstruction
assistance to facilitate
the safe return
of internally displaced persons to their own homes and communities.
· Maintain close
contact with local and international human rights organizations and develop
procedures for regular
consultation
and information sharing.
· The UNDP should
immediately deploy a U.N. inter-agency assessment mission to Gujarat state
to determine
the assistance
and protection needs of those displaced and dispossessed by the communal
violence. Such a
mission should
include experts on health and sanitation, food and nutrition, shelter,
social and psychological
support, education,
and protection drawn from U.N. agencies that have programs in India, such
as UNDP,
WFP, WHO, UNICEF,
and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). Particular
attention
should be paid
to the protection and assistance needs of women, children, the elderly,
and the disabled.
· Based on the findings
of the inter-agency assessment mission, U.N. agencies should seek to provide
emergency
relief
to those displaced and dispossessed by the communal violence in Gujarat
on a nondiscriminatory basis and
in full
accordance with international human rights law and the U.N. Guiding Principles
on Internal Displacement.
Special
attention should be paid to the health, nutritional, medical, educational,
and psychosocial needs of those
affected by
the violence.
6 CBI is a federal investigative
agency that handles cases of corruption and cases of interstate and other
crimes of
national importance. CBI inquiries
are often demanded in cases where local or state investigations are perceived
to be biased.